The Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope Observations of Dwarf Novae

Volume 23 number 2 (1995)

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Knox S. Long

Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD

Abstract

Due in part to a productive interaction between amateur and professional astronomers, rapid progress has been made in recent years in understanding the far ultraviolet spectra of dwarf novae. We now know that the disk, a wind emerging from the inner portions of the system, the bright spot, and the white dwarf all contribute to the observed spectra. In this paper, I provide a brief overview of our current understanding of dwarf novae and of the continuing challenges they present in the context of the observations of dwarf novae made with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope on the Astro-1 and Astro-2 space shuttle missions. These observations are significant because they provide the first set of moderate (3°) resolution far ultraviolet spectra of dwarf novae to include the wavelength range between Lyman alpha (1216°) and the Lyman limit (912°).